Boswell area man faces another round of assault charges against girlfriend

August 15, 2003|By the Daily American

A Boswell man is accused of beating his girlfriend at a Jenner Township bar Wednesday night, just days after similar assault charges were dismissed against him.

Ronald E. Overly, 55, of Lincoln Highway, Boswell, is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment. He is accused of beating of 44-year-old Lillian V. Coughenour of Boswell.

Coughenour is in serious condition at Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, according to a hospital spokeswoman. A Pennsylvania State Police trooper said her injuries are serious, but don't appear to be life-threatening.

Coughenour told police that she and Overly were closing the Laurel Summit Inn along Route 30 in Jenner Township Wednesday night following an argument.

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Coughenour retired to the couple's apartment above the bar, where police say the assault took place.

In a criminal complaint, police said Overly struck his girlfriend repeatedly in the head, face and body and choked her "causing a… brain bleed with a grade-three concussion."

Coughenour also suffered multiple bruises and hemorrhages to her left shoulder, neck, face and ear, according to police.

In the complaint, police said Overly's actions showed "extreme indifference to the value of human life."

After the alleged assault, police said Overly dragged Coughenour out of the apartment to the front of the building. State police Trooper Kenneth Durbin said she was found on U.S. Route 30.

"A passing motorist observed the victim lying in the middle of the roadway and stopped," Durbin said. Police were called to the scene shortly before midnight.

Durbin said he visited Coughenour at the hospital and noted substantial injuries, according to the complaint.

"The officer's experience and training indicate that these hemorrhages of the face and neck were caused by strangulation," Durbin wrote.

Overly allegedly admitted to dragging his girlfriend from the building, "but only by her hands or wrists," according to the complaint.

"He also admitted that he slapped her hard numerous times, but only about the face and buttocks and only with an open hand," the complaint reads.

Police said Coughenour's injuries are not consistent with Overly's claims.

Overly was arraigned Thursday night before District Justice Douglas McCall Bell and placed in the Somerset County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bond.

He is awaiting a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday before District Justice William Roush in Boswell. Overly had not retained an attorney as of Friday, according to a source in the magistrate's office.